Editing Federal Marriage Amendment (section)

===2004===
When the 2003 version of the FMA failed to advance in the Congress, Senator Allard re-introduced the Amendment on May 22, 2004, with a revised second sentence. Rep. Musgrave re-introduced the Amendment in the House on September 23, 2004, with the same revision.

The 2004 version of the Federal Marriage Amendment stated:<ref name=hjres106>Musgrave, Marilyn, et al. (September 23, 2004) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.j.res.00106: H.J.RES.106 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081112151742/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.j.res.00106: |date=November 12, 2008 }} [[United States House of Representatives]], [[Library of Congress]]. Accessed August 18, 2007.</ref><ref name=sjres30>Allard, Wayne, et al. (March 22, 2004) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SJ00030: S.J.RES.30 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704170158/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SJ00030: |date=July 4, 2016 }} [[United States Senate]], [[Library of Congress]]. Accessed August 18, 2007.</ref><ref name=sjres40>Allard, Wayne, et al. (July 7, 2004) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SJ00040: S.J.RES.40 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081112024019/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SJ00040: |date=November 12, 2008 }} [[United States Senate]], [[Library of Congress]]. Accessed September 1, 2007.</ref>

{{blockquote|Marriage in the United States shall consist solely of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.}}

The bill was designated S.J.Res.30 in the Senate and was immediately referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. When the bill became stuck in committee, Senator Allard re-introduced the Amendment in the Senate on July 7, 2004, where it was designated S.J.Res.40. The bill was subject to a [[Filibuster (legislative tactic)|filibuster]]: on July 9, 12, 13 and 14, the motion was made to proceed to consideration of the measure. On July 14, 2004, a [[cloture]] motion to force a direct vote on the FMA was defeated in the Senate by a margin of 50 nay votes to 48 yea votes. The 48 votes in support of the cloture motion were 12 votes short of the 60-vote [[supermajority]] (three-fifths) needed to end debate and force a vote on the Amendment itself.<ref name=sjres40/> Senators [[John Kerry]] of [[Massachusetts]] and [[John Edwards]] of [[North Carolina]] skipped the filibuster vote.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/15/us/senators-block-initiative-to-ban-same-sex-unions.html?scp=4&sq=&pagewanted=all|title=Senators Block Initiative to Ban Same-Sex Unions|last=Hulse|first=Carl|date=July 15, 2004|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 16, 2009}}</ref> On July 15, 2004, the motion to proceed to consideration of the Amendment was withdrawn in the Senate.<ref name=sjres40/> Six Republicans voted with a majority of Democrats against cloture in the Senate.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/14/politics/senate-vote-blocks-effort-to-ban-gay-marriage-in-constitution.html|title=Senate Vote Blocks Effort to Ban Gay Marriage in Constitution|last=Hulse|first=Carl|date=2004-07-14|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-05-29|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The bill was designated H.J.Res.106 in the House and was immediately referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. On September 28, 2004, rules were recommended by the [[United States House Committee on Rules|House Rules Committee]] with regards to debate and voting on the proposed Amendment. The rules were passed on September 30.<ref name=hjres106/><ref name=hres801>(September 28, 2004) [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:H.RES.801: H.RES.801 Providing for consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 106)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009060825/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:H.RES.801: |date=October 9, 2014 }} [[United States House Committee on Rules|House Rules Committee]]. [[United States House of Representatives]]. Retrieved September 1, 2007.</ref> The resolution was immediately considered. Passage of the proposed Amendment failed 227 yea votes to 186 nay votes, where 290 yea votes (two-thirds) are required for passage of a proposed [[Article Five of the United States Constitution|Constitutional amendment]].<ref name=hjres106/>